Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Marietta Investment Partners LLC

Marietta Investment Partners LLC reduced its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 52,558 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,758 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 4.9% of Marietta Investment Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Marietta Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $22,153,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 131,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,375,673 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT traded up $0.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $458.77. 34,758,620 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,610,607. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $407.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $414.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The firm's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities boosted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $515.00 target price on shares of Microsoft and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $513.13.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.